Welcome to Special Collections

The Special Collections unit of the Michigan State University Libraries collects, houses, and preserves rare and unique materials within the MSU Libraries. Our materials cover a vast array of topics from Africana to Veterinary Medicine. These materials are available to the public in our reading room.

Special Collections is also responsible for all preservation related activities in the MSU Libraries.

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Opera Hrosvita, illustris virginis et moialis....nuper a Conrado Celte inventa (Nuremberg, 1501), is the first edition of the "comedies" and other writings of Hroswitha of Gandersheim, who was a Benedictine nun in Lower Saxony born sometime between 912 and 940. Her work enjoys the distinction of being the first collection of modern or non-classical dramas to appear in print. Her manuscript was discovered and later edited for this first edition by the great German humanist Conrad Celtes. The book features 8 full page woodcuts, including two by Albrecht Durer. The one seen here represents Celtes presenting his book to the elector Frederick the Wise of Saxony.

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Did you Know...

• Edith and Arthur Fox, for whom the Edith & Arthur Fox Radicalism Collection was named, were long time Detroit labor and political activists. Both were employed in the auto industry and militantly involved in union work, he is Local 600 (Ford's Rouge plant) and she in Local 3 (Dodge Main in Hamtramck).
• A monument of English literature, the two volume first edition of Samuel Johnson's Dictionary of the English Language, (London, 1755) is held in Special Collections among the Literature Materials.

Map to the Reading Room in MSU Library